The First UK Carnivore conference

Over the weekend Will and I attended the UK’s very first carnivore conference at Cliff College in the very beautiful Peak District near Bakewell.

We arrived on Friday evening just in time for a carnivore feast which was served up at The Bridge Inn, which was a short walk from the college. It was a great opportunity to chat to some of the other attendees and speakers ahead of the conference starting. I sat opposite a lovely lady who had travelled all the way from Portugal for the event!

The conference was billed as ‘a gathering together of the UK’s foremost practitioners and coaches who will give you their latest insights into how you can realise the power of our true ancestral diet in your life, take back control over your body shape and your health, and pack more enjoyment into every day’.

But what does ‘Carnivore Lifestyle’ mean? Well followers will only eat animal food products with a main focus on fatty ruminant meats such as beef and lamb. Although shellfish/fish/pork/chicken and frankly anything else that was once running around is allowed. Then you can add in dairy if you so wish. And yes that means no vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, carbs etc.

If you haven’t heard of carnivore before if can sound alarming as it is so far removed from our standard western diet. But many of the regularly alarmed questions were answered such as ‘what do you do without fibre?’! This one in particular was answered by Lee Copus who told his story of a lifetime of bowel issues which resulted in having his colon removed and a following depression as he adapted to life with a colostomy bag. He started the carnivore lifestyle and hasn’t looked back since, within only a couple of weeks his mood lifted and he felt his life return. In regard to not needing fibre he said he has quite a unique perspective as he sees ‘what goes in and what comes out’. And as he explained when meat hits the stomach acid it is liquidises and hence no blocks are formed in the digestive system. Quite in contrast to plant material which remains pretty well untouched. In the pre carnivore days he was hospitalised by a blockage caused by mushrooms!

On Sunday Ben Hunt gave a lecture where he in part talked about our ancestral past and of course when you start thinking about it our ancestors consumed pretty much solely meat. Which we know through intricate cave paintings and remains. Then moved on to talk about remote tribes who again live largely off hunted animals and foraged foods and don’t suffer with the tirade of medical issues we do in the modern world. There has to be a link between the food we eat and our health.

We were treated to a brilliant lecture from Dr Abs ‘The Longevity Doc’. Who was talking at length about the health benefits in controlling blood sugar using the carnivore diet. He reversed his father’s type 2 diabetes in just a few weeks.

There was a panel discussion which was entitled ‘Is The Carnivore Diet Expensive?’ Of course this is something I do know rather a bit about! Having customers who follow the diet in greater and lesser expensive ways through the cuts they buy. I wasn’t initially asked to speak but nonetheless I ended up on the stage! It was brilliant to be able to explain the difference between ‘grass fed’ (which means diddly squat in the UK) and ‘pasture fed’ with the emphasis on looking out for ‘Pasture For Life’. Also to make absolutely sure that the meat people are buying is at least British and do not be lured in to the appeal of cheap Australian beef which is landing in its droves now. This does not support British agriculture or our ongoing domestic food security. I am delighted to say that I have been invited back next year to speak!

It has reinvigorated my absolute firm belief that the happier and healthier the animals we raise are the happier and healthy those who they nourish will be. There is a fundamental link between what we are doing on the farm and ultimate human health.

The weekend was brilliant if we didn’t get back until after midnight last night!